{"id":55353,"date":"2025-06-12T03:38:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T03:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55353"},"modified":"2025-06-12T03:38:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T03:38:24","slug":"red-sox-rhp-hunter-dobbins-addresses-fathers-debunked-yankees-claims-i-dont-go-and-fact-check-my-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55353","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox RHP Hunter Dobbins addresses father’s debunked Yankees claims: ‘I don’t go and fact-check my dad’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hunter Dobbins inserted himself into the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry in a bizarre way this week. It did not work out well for him.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox pitcher made his first start against the Yankees last weekend but made more headlines with what he said going into the game. The right-hander, a Red Sox fan growing up, certainly said what his fan base wanted to hear, claiming that he would retire rather than sign a contract with the Yankees.<\/p>\n

But then he added a couple of other claims,\u00a0via the Boston Herald.<\/p>\n

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Dobbins mentioned that his father, Lance Dobbins, was “really good friends” with Yankees great Andy Pettitte and had a short career with the team before becoming a die-hard Sox fan:<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe was actually drafted twice by the Yankees,\u201d his son said. \u201cSigned with them his last year, and then he got traded over to the Diamondbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That story went off the rails Tuesday after some fact-checking by\u00a0the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. The Post could not verify any of Dobbins’ claims, with no record of a draft pick under that name.<\/p>\n

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who has held the position since 1998 and has been with the team’s front office since 1986, said he has no memory of drafting Lance Dobbins, and a check with the amateur department revealed no record of such a pick.<\/p>\n

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